The present invention generally relates to the field of labels for optical discs, and more particularly relates to labels for non-circular optical discs.
Optical discs such as laser discs, mini discs, CDE discs, DVD discs, CDs and CD-ROMs have proliferated in recent years, due to their versatility as a storage medium for digital information. The underside of these optical discs are encoded with optical readable signals in digital format. Most recently, a trend has developed towards the manufacture and use of optical discs that are non-circular in shape. These non-circular optical discs can be manufactured as CD-recordable business cards or other fanciful shapes.
The CD-recordable business card (hereinafter xe2x80x9cbusiness card CD-Rxe2x80x9d) is shaped with rounded ends, and interconnecting straight sides, and is sized for accommodation in a wallet alongside traditional, paper business cards. The business card CD-R provides a convenient, compact medium for carrying digital documentation such as curriculum vitae, brochures, portfolios or and other information up to between about 20 megabytes and about 50 megabytes.
It is also possible to manufacture other non-circular optical discs, provided that the disc is designed such that the disc""s center of gravity is located at the center of the optical disc, to provide balanced rotation around a hub. Preferably, the optical disc is symmetrical, in a plane of revolution in order to ensure balanced rotation, which, in turn, is important for optimally recording or reading the disc by an appropriate device.
With the advent of the business card CD-R, a need has arisen for labeling the business card CD-R. As with circular optical discs that are currently on the market, labels provide the user with a means of identifying the contents of the disc. Circular optical discs have corresponding self-adhesive labels that can be written on, or printed on by ink-jet or laser printer, and then applied to the disc with the aid of various label applicators.
The self-adhesive labels that are currently on the market for optical discs function poorly in relation to the business mini disc however, because these traditional circular labels must be trimmed to conform with the shape of non-circular optical discs, such as the business card CD-R. Trimming each label individually is cumbersome and imprecise, and can provide labels that unbalance the disc during reading or recording.
Alternatively, self-adhesive labels can be manufactured on a mass scale that are specifically sized in conformance with the non-circular optical discs, including labels for the business card CD-R. The precut label presents additional problems however, in that the non-circular shape requires precise alignment against the non-circular disc. As a result, a non-circular label has a limited number of positions that provide alignment with the non-circular disc. Current label applicators, as based on designs from U.S. Pat. No. 5,782,033, U.S. Pat. No. 5,925,200, U.S. Pat. No. 5,902,446, cannot provide any alignment of non-circular discs and their labels, since these label applicators are designed for circular labels and discs which can be rotated to any degree to obtain alignment.
A label for an optical disc having a circular perimeter in accordance with the present invention generally includes a sheet having a non-circular perimeter and adhesive for fixing the sheet to the optical disc. Preferably, the adhesive is disposed on one side of the sheet.
A label central aperture is provided which has a perimeter for enabling registration of the label with the optical disc. The label central aperture can be considered as a key for registration. As hereinabove noted, such registration is necessary for proper functioning of the optical disc after label application. Importantly, this registration means is provided in the label itself by utilization of a specific central aperture perimeter.
In one embodiment of the present, the sheet perimeter has a contour corresponding to a contour of a optical disc perimeter and the label central aperture also has a contour corresponding to the sheet perimeter contour. However, it should be appreciated that the central aperture perimeter is not limited to this configuration.
In accordance with the present invention, a number of central aperture perimeter characteristics may be utilized in order to enable registration of the label with the optical disc. For example, the central aperture may be asymmetrical about the central axis or symmetrical about the axis with the label central aperture including at least one lobe or plurality of spaced apart lobes. The label central aperture perimeter may be non-circular and the lobed central aperture perimeter may be an asymmetric pattern about a central axis.
More specifically, the label may be sized and shaped for use with a business card CD-R with the central aperture features as hereinabove noted.